Downtown apartments to get face lift

Wednesday

Jan 15, 1992 at 12:01 AM

South-side leaders and residents heaved a sigh of relief Tuesday when owners of the Schuyler apartments announced plans to give the "Berlin Wall-like" structure a multimillion-dollar face lift. "It's just drab," said Margaret Smith, who lives two blocks from the South Church Street high-rise building. "They haven't done anything to the outside since it first opened up. It's about time for a new face." The complex, constructed in 1950, is described in the city's 1988 Regional/Urban Design Assistance Team report as the "Berlin Wall" that dominates the southern entrance to downtown. "This slab-like structure presents a very imposing, utilitarian, negative image as one approaches from the south," the RUDAT report says. John Cecil, whose family owns the 12-story building, acknowledged no work has ever been done on the building's exterior and said he hoped the renovation "would contribute to bettering the downtown." He added that the proposed renovation project is "very preliminary" and could cost anywhere from $1.3 million to $2.5 million. "We're just unsure of the scope of the renovation at this time," Cecil said. Work on the exterior and windows should begin late this year. "It's ugly," he said. "Actually, I was just told today that it was originally done in a green tinted concrete, but over the years it's never been painted." Linda Bilanchone, a member of the South-side Revitalization Committee, said, "I think this could be the one most important things to happen to the south side as far as its physical well-being and aesthetics." The complex, which has two penthouses on the 12th floor, houses mostly elderly tenants, but that was not the intention of the owners. About 76 tenants occupy 90 apartments in the building. The management is holding some apartments open to reduce relocation of residents while renovation is under way. "We'll do the renovation floor by floor and help move residents to another area," he said. "We shouldn't have to move anyone from inside this building." Construction crews may replace outside windows, make the outside similar to the adjacent Schuyler office building, update elevators and install air conditioning. Cecil said nothing has been finalized. Spartanburg City Council members gave the project a boost Monday night when they voted to give the owners a $250,000 Rental Rehabilitation grant. The allocation stipulates that the exterior of the building must be improved. City Councilman Gerald Richardson voted for the project but said he wants to make sure 70 percent of the grant is used to benefit low- to moderate-income tenants as the application requires. "If all this money is being put into one building, then I just want to make sure it benefits the whole community," Richardson said. "In the past, the building catered to the white, middle-class family. I would just be concerned with private developers using money for low- to moderate-income tenants to fix a building for high-income renters." But Cecil said the grant stipulates that the Cecil family must at least match the $250,000 Community Development Block Grant. He added that the funds would be secured through a loan. State Rep. Don Beatty, a former city councilman, said he used to oppose putting block grants toward the Schuyler apartments because it took away from the community. "Before, it was an either/or situation, but now there's a special fund that won't impact negatively on any other part of the community," he said. "I welcome it. It's something that should have been done a long time ago." Dr. William Nelson, who lived in one of the penthouses for 10 years, said the apartments are nice on the interior, "but they never cared to keep it painted like they should." "If they fixed it up and made it look good, I think it would rent," he said. "Right now it's just an eyesore." Original Atex file name: SCUYLE.R1

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